With microphones and cameras from local, national and international media recording her every breath and movement, the secretary of state knelt down and put several canned goods into a box. Then she walked outside, hoisted another box of groceries, and placed it in a car driven by a middle-aged Asian woman who didn't seem to know what to make of the sudden swarm of attention.

Rice, known for her poise in dealing with the media and congressional panels, was perhaps the only person in Bayou La Batre who wasn't sweating.

It isn't that the weather turned cool. Deeper down on page two, Curran helpfully tells us, "Before Rice arrived ... and no doubt well after she left, what seemed like hundreds of volunteers, many sweating profusely, gave boxes of groceries, baby supplies and other goods to those in need of the assistance."